I can easily imagine this to be one of life’s less rewarding tasks, sitting around in a mascot costume, likely for very spare wages, only to drum up business for someone else. Just today, in fact, I watched some total stranger pinch one of this gentleman’s eyes as he walked past. So on the day that I took this photo, I was unsurprised at this honest display of emotion.

Due to the fast film and bright daylight, I had to stop down to about f16 just to be able to shoot at 1/500th of a second, my fastest shutter speed.

I have seen solar eclipses in my lifetime, and, although they still hold a fascination for me, I was more interested on this occasion in the phenomenon of an eclipse as an aspect of our culture and the ways in which we observe it.

That being said, I do still have, in this set, one token shot of the eclipse itself.

On my lunchtime walk, the 18th of October, 2013, I encountered OXCAT preparing flash-mobs in select locations in the center of Oxford for Anti-Slavery Day. I arrived in time to see dancer, Anja Meinhardt, perform her moving piece about human trafficking.